Proteas Test captain Temba Bavuma warmed up for the international season with 91 for the Lions on the opening day of the domestic first-class season.
After Proteas coach Shukri Conrad instructed all the nationally contracted players to feature in the first-class series, Bavuma dusted off the cobwebs with a polished half-century at the Wanderers.
The skipper looked comfortable against a Boland attack featuring former Proteas speedsters Glenton Stuurman and Lizaad Williams. Bavuma stroked 14 boundaries during his 146-ball stay at the crease.
The remainder of the Test top-order also spent valuable time at the crease but would possibly have liked to push on further.
Ryan Rickelton struck a fluent 49 off 60 balls, which included 10 boundaries, before being caught off Williams.
Down at Newlands, Tristan Stubbs showed that he has the appetite for red-ball cricket against the Western Province Cobras. Stubbs walked to the crease with Table Mountain decked by a tablecloth and his Proteas teammate Dane Paterson hitting the seam and swinging the new ball appreciably.
But Stubbs applied himself diligently, working his way to 46 off 94 balls (7×4) before former SA U19 left-arm spinner Asakhe Tsaka extracted sharp bounce and turn to have the Proteas top-order batter caught at point.
Senuran Muthusamy, who has recovered from his lower back muscle spasm that ruled him out of the South Africa ‘A’ series, once again showed off his all-round value with 61 for the Warriors.
The bowling unit also enjoyed a good workout, with Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi getting some miles under their legs.
Ngidi finished with 1/28 from his eight overs, while Jansen claimed 3/39 in his nine overs.
Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj quickly got into his work for the Dolphins, delivering 15 overs to finish with 1/53.
